dogwood, cornus sp.

noun plant

Proto-Siouan-Catawba

Proto-Siouan

Proto-Mississipi-Valley

Proto-Dakota *čhąšá

Lakota čhąšáša ‘kinikinik, Cornus stolonifera’ RTC

Dakota ćaŋśáśa , †čhąšáša ‘bark for mixing with smoking tobacco, may be dogwood or willow’ SRR:92a

Proto-Hoocąk-Chiwere

Hoocąk mąąsíxočgejája ‘clusters of red willows’ KM:2016 , mąąsixocgejaja

Proto-Dhegiha *mą́sa hü

Omaha-Ponca maⁿsaḣtihiⁿ ‘Cornus asperifolia’

Kanza/Kaw mą́sa hü ‘dogwood, arrow shaft bush’ RR

Osage moⁿça hi , †mą́sa hü ‘arrowwood’ LF:95b

Quapaw mą́sa (hi) ‘dogwood, Cornus’ RR , mása žítte ‘bark used for kinikinik’ RR

General comment

Although similar, the Mandan and Dakota forms are not fully cognate. Both terms contain the root for ‘tree, wood’, q.v. The remainder, ša, cannot be cognate because the fricatives fail to show the proper match. The Dakota form is transparently ‘red wood’ and the Mandan term may be a loan blend. Both terms are influenced by ‘tobacco’, q.v. Note Lakota čhąswóžu (B-123a) or čhąšwóžu (EJ) ‘a growth of trees in a bottom’ in which the proper fricative match for the Mandan form may appear (depending on which form is historically correct).

In DH mą́sa is the term for ‘arrow shaft’, so this dogwood term is not cognate with its Mandan or Dakota analog, although dogwood bark is mixed with tobacco to make kinikinik among the DH tribes too. It is probable that Hoocąk goes together with DH here. The two distinct sets are kept together here for their ethnobotanical interest only.

Language Cognate Phonetic Siouan Meaning Comment Sources